Zimbabweans go to the polls to cast their ballots on Wednesday, 23 August, to elect a new president and parliamentary and municipal representatives. 

Incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa and  Nelson Chamisa of the main opposition Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC) party will fight it out in the tightly contested polls. 

Chamisa is squaring off with Mnangagwa for the second time since Mnangagwa took over power from the country’s longtime ruler, Robert Mugabe, through a military coup in November 2017. 

Other presidential candidates are Elisabeth Valerio of the United Zimbabwe Alliance, Lovemore Madhuku of the National Constitutional Assembly, Trust Chikohora (ZCPD), Blessing Kasiyamhuru (ZIPP), Joseph Makamba Busha (FreeZim Congress), Wilbert Mubaiwa (NPC), Gwinyai Muzorewa (UANC) and Harry Peter Wilson (DOP).

Douglas Mwonzora, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change-Tsvangirai, pulled out of the race citing an uneven playing field, while a former Cabinet minister and ally of Mugabe, Saviour Kasukuwere, who unsuccessfully campaigned for Mugabe’s wife, Grace, to succeed her late husband, was elbowed out of the election after the courts ruled that he was not eligible to contest after he had stayed outside Zimbabwe for more than 18 months. 

Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) supporters attend CCC’s last 2023 election campaign rally at the Freedom Square in Harare, Zimbabwe, 21 August 2023. Zimbabweans go to the polls on 23 August 2023 to elect a president, members of Parliament and councillors. (Photo: EPA-EFE / Aaron Ufumeli)

The broader opposition has complained of an uneven campaign field characterised by a record number of legal battles, violence and intimidation of opposition members and supporters. Violence allegedly perpetrated by Zanu-PF goons left one person dead, although Zimbabwean police claimed that the victim, Tinashe Chitsunge, was run over by a truck during the skirmishes in Harare. 

Chamisa’s party took the fight for the release of the voters’ roll to the bitter end after the country’s electoral body, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), had denied the CCC access to the register. 

The CCC’s deputy national spokesperson, Gift Ostallos Siziba, confirmed that his party struck a deal with the ZEC at the 11th hour to have the voters’ roll released to them at the instigation of the courts.

“The High Court on Tuesday ordered that we have a mutual discussion with ZEC so that we could get a voters’ roll which is easy to analyse and after our discussion, ZEC promised to fulfil the agreement. We are still waiting for it,” Siziba said.

At least 6.5 million Zimbabweans are registered to vote in the harmonised elections, but the opposition said it had not been given a readable register to authenticate those who were set to cast their votes.

Chamisa’s former ally Douglas Mwonzora, who retained the name of the Movement for Democratic Change following leadership wrangles that resulted in Chamisa forming a new opposition movement, is boycotting the polls, citing irregularities by the electoral body. 

A supporter of the Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party raises a flag during the party’s last election campaign rally in Shurugwi, Zimbabwe, 19 August 2023. (Photo: EPA-EFE / Aaron Ufumeli)

Read more in Daily Maverick: Zimbabwe 2023 elections

‘Security forces are ready’

Chamisa told his supporters in Zimbabwe’s second-largest city of Bulawayo that his party would tabulate the election results and announce them as they arrive — setting the stage for yet another disputed election. 

The Permanent Secretary in Zimbabwe’s Information Ministry, Nick Mangwana, said it was illegal for the opposition to announce the results and only the electoral body was legally mandated to do so. He said security forces were ready to thwart such attempts, including plans by the opposition to let its members stay put near polling stations after casting their ballots to “defend the vote”.

Mangwana said: “Security forces are ready to descend on any persons who will be caught on the wrong side of the law. The security forces are also alive to efforts by some local organisations and their international partners to deploy illegal communication systems in order to unlawfully transmit and announce unofficial and fake election results. 

“Anyone who intends to transmit and announce election results outside the mandate of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has no good intentions for the country’s peace and security. As such, the transmission and publication of results by any person other than ZEC is unlawful, criminal and will be dealt with accordingly.”  

Chamisa’s party is heading into the elections without 40 of its supporters, including a parliamentary candidate, Gladmore Hakata, and his agents, who are in prison for holding an unsanctioned rally. Harare magistrate Learnmore Mapiye reserved her ruling on the bail application by Hakata and his agents to Thursday, August 24 — a day after the elections. 

The ruling Zanu-PF’s national spokesperson, Christopher Mutsvangwa, said, “We are happy with the manner ZEC has handled this election so far. Those who are crying foul are the usual crybabies and know that their defeat was unavoidable.”   

SADC call for peace

Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema, who chairs the Southern African Development Community’s (SADC’s) organ on politics, defence and security, pleaded with Zimbabweans to vote peacefully.

“A fundamental tenet of our community is the consolidation of democracy, which is defined by regular, credible, free, fair and transparent electoral processes,” Hichilema said. 

“In the spirit of our communal values as SADC, we wish the people of Zimbabwe a peaceful and orderly electoral process. I encourage everyone to stay calm before the announcement of the election outcome. I wish the Zimbabwean people peaceful elections.” 

SADC has deployed 66 election observers, headed by former Zambian vice-president Nevers Mumba.

Already, some election observers have questioned the credibility of the polls, citing a number of irregularities, among them the “shambolic voters’ roll, the composition of the electoral body, and captured judiciary”.

The spokesperson for the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, Obert Masaraure, said, “In what is easily the biggest scandal engulfing the entire election, ZEC has refused to avail the latest record of the voters’ roll for the entire duration covered by this assessment. While the ZEC opened up voters’ roll inspection to citizens between 27 and 31 May, the experiences of various citizens … exposed the fact that ZEC was ill-prepared to carry out a credible process.”

The civil rights group said the electoral process was skewed in favour of Zanu-PF and the state media had been “used and abused by the ruling party”. 

In a bid to ensure that the elections are held in a peaceful manner, the Zimbabwe Council of Churches held a prayer meeting on Tuesday that was attended by former Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano.

All the major political parties were represented at the prayer meeting.  

DA voices its concern

South Africa’s Democratic Alliance voiced its concern over the failure by Mnangagwa’s administration to implement key democratic reforms ahead of the polls, citing biased state-controlled media, “weaponisation of the courts against opponents, a capture of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and the passage of subversive anti-democracy legislation”. 

Violence broke out in the 2018 elections after the opposition claimed electoral fraud, and at least six people were killed when the army opened fire on civilians. The Kgalema Motlanthe Commission of Inquiry recommended a thorough investigation of the shootings, but to date, no one has been arrested.    

Meanwhile, the ZEC’s deputy chair, Rodney Simukai Kiwa, said, “As far we are concerned, it is all systems go. We have dispatched the voting material to every polling station and people must go out and vote. We are pleading for peace, patience and understanding. We will do everything according to the law. The results will be announced according to the Constitution. 

“We have five days from the day of voting to announce the presidential result, but if we get the entire process done before that, we will give them verified results as soon as possible.

“We don’t want violence. We have seen peace prevailing throughout the country and it must maintained. No one should die because of politics. We are Zimbabweans after all.”  

Although Mnangagwa has assured Zimbabweans the polls will be free, fair and credible, his insincerity was demonstrated by his government’s deportation of foreign election monitors, refusal to allow some foreign journalists to cover the elections, and denial of accreditation to some local observers. 

The US-based Carter Center issued a statement on Tuesday complaining of delays by authorities to accredit its team of observers ahead of the polls.   

“The Center requests that accreditation for these observers be given today, August 22, so it can fulfill its mission to provide an impartial assessment of the election. Any further delay in accreditation will prevent the Center from deploying these observers and will hinder its ability to observe polling, counting and tabulation in many locations,” the statement said. DM

This article was updated after the polling booths opened on Wednesday 23 August. You can watch live coverage of the elections here.